eHarmony made the perfect match. Turns out those seemingly endless questionares are actually great at matching couples! A little too good, in their case. After they met, Min and David found out they had mutual friends. They asked those friends whey they never set them up before, and their friends answered by saying that they never saw them as a match. Well, it looks like the internet knows best! Or, as the couple would confess, God put all things into place perfectly to bring them together. After dating for just a few months, they knew their relationship was headed in a more permanent direction. I am so ecstatic to witness their vows this summer!

For their engagement session, we wandered around downtown Williamsburg and along the river for a stunning view of Manhattan. You’ll notice David’s love of comics and Min’s enthusiasm about researching their amazing honeymoon destination of South Africa. We also took some photos in a cute new coffee shop and even grabbed a couple of mouth watering hot dogs at Crif. Enjoy this beautiful couple!

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day, and they deserved it! Jocelyn and Kevin’s original plans were changed when Hurricane Irene hit NYC, forcing them to reschedule their wedding date. Thankfully, their venue, Tribeca Rooftop (which was just one block away from the evacuation zone in lower Manhattan), offered them a chance to reschedule for later that fall. However, the couple still went ahead with a mini ceremony that weekend since they had family that traveled all the way from China, London, and California to be celebrate with them. Jocelyn’s uncle, a minister, officiated their impromptu ceremony during what was supposed to be their original rehearsal dinner. The couple invited everyone who could make it to NYC on short notice and had about 50 people witness their first round of vows. It was a wet, windy, emotional weekend filled with love and memories!

For their new wedding date, Jocelyn and Kevin still had the same vision and hoped for anything but a natural disaster. Fortunately, they had the most beautiful weather – sunny and temperatures in the low 80s! Jocelyn had always envisioned her wedding to be modern with traditional touches and she definitely accomplished both. The Tribeca Rooftop had a great NYC-loft vibe with amazing views and an amazing outdoor rooftop where cocktail hour was held. The flowers and color scheme had to change a bit due to availability of flowers, but their florist, Victoria Ahn, did a wonderful job recreating their vision. In the end, Jocelyn and Kevin stopped being worried about the planning and other minor details of the wedding – they were just so happy to be finally walking down the aisle after waiting an extra six weeks to be pronounced husband and wife!

I was privileged to shoot this wedding with my very dear and talented friend, Diana Lupu! Many of her gorgeous shots are included in this post. Enjoy!

Oh, how I love being a mom! One of my favorite things about Elise are her adorable little toes. I could play with them all day! :)

Reading this blog post may make you miss summer more than ever, but I couldn’t help but share one of my favorite weddings of 2011. Mika and Mike’s picturesque Hamptons beach ceremony was a dream to shoot, as well as their beautifully decorated reception at Race Lane in East Hampton. Mika looked absolutely lovely in her simple yet stunning wedding gown, and her colorful bridesmaids were beautifully elegant and charming. I loved the couple’s choice of venue and decor…the restaurant owner’s talented wife created all of the arrangements herself! The rustic wildflowers were a lovely addition to the Hamptons beach setting. By the end, I was sad the day had ended because it really was a pleasure to witness and photograph the love between this beautiful couple!

4 weeks ago today God blessed us with the greatest gift of all…a healthy, beautiful, precious baby girl! Elise Lauren Bota was born on January 9th at 8:50am weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was almost 20 inches long. She is such a blessing and is so sweet and adorable, I can’t stop staring at her, stroking her hair and cheeks, and cuddling with her! We decided to have our baby near family in Ohio, which turned out to be such a help and encouragement for us. Getting through those first couple of weeks would have been much more challenging without having my sister and mother around! I am also beyond thankful to have the most helpful and loving husband in the world…he has made the adjustment much easier and we have had so much fun experiencing all the things that new parents learn during the first few weeks. We are so thrilled to be parents and we can’t wait to see our daughter grow and mature into a beautiful young lady!

This is a very exciting time for me and Adrian as we are patiently and anxiously waiting to meet our precious baby girl!  We can’t wait to see who she looks like, what her personality is like, what her sleeping/eating habits are, and most of all, we can’t wait to hold and kiss her! We expect to face challenges we’ve never known before but at the same time to grow and mature both as individuals and in our relationship together. I’ve been looking through photos from my pregnancy journey this past year and wanted to share some of those moments before she arrives!

Here’s how we told the family the big news…we set up the camera for a “family portrait” and just before clicking the shutter we pulled out a sign saying “We’re Pregnant.” My sister’s reaction is the best! I was 9 weeks at the time.

16/17 weeks attempting to show my “bump”:

Finding out the gender at 18 weeks…it’s a girl!!!

20 weeks…half way there!

22 weeks:

24 weeks:

26 weeks/5 year wedding anniversary! I was shooting a wedding all day so these were the only pics we could snap:

28 weeks – my dear, amazing, majorly talented friend and photographer, Diana Lupu, did a maternity shoot for us! I absolutely LOVE the pics and will cherish them forever. You can see lots more on her blog here.

Also at 28 weeks – I’m glad to see that pregnancy doesn’t have to interfere with my line of work :)

29 weeks – me and Adrian photographed a wedding at an adorable goat farm in North Carolina:

To celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary and as our “babymoon,” we took an 11-day trip to Italy when I was 30-31 weeks pregnant…many more pics from that trip coming soon!

At 34 weeks my amazing friends and family threw me a breathtaking baby shower!

The very sweet and beautiful organizers:

My sister and best friend:

The love of my life and daddy-to-be!

Highlight of the evening was my surprise gift from Adrian…a new CAR!!!

38 weeks…it’s Christmas!

40 weeks on my due date and so ready to pop!

I hope to share photos of our baby girl very soon…hopefully she doesn’t keep us waiting much longer!

I absolutely adore when couples take the time to plan every detail of their engagement shoot. Lin and James were inspired by the movie “UP,” and when I saw those brightly colored balloons and their adorable puppy, Henry, my heart skipped a beat! These two (plus Henry) were a blast and so much fun to photograph! Lin was a trooper on that chilly, windy fall day and James made sure to cuddle up with his bride-to-be whenever he had the chance. On top of their stylish outfits and cute props, we were lucky to catch some beautiful golden foliage and the perfect light at Fort Tryon park up near the cloisters. Enjoy this fabulous couple and their adorable little puppy!

Jan and John were married this summer at The Woodlands in Woodbury, Long Island. The pastel yellow walls draping with green ivy made the venue reminiscent of an Italian villa, and Jan looked absolutely stunning in her lace Modern Trousseau gown. The couple truly enjoyed every moment of their wedding day, and their relaxed, laid back approach made the event even more enjoyable for all of their family and friends. Jan and John were a pleasure to photograph and I wish them the very best in their new life together! Enjoy!

Many thanks to Caroline Frost for assisting me that day!

I still have to pinch myself sometimes to realize it’s not a dream. I still remember the gruesome feeling of having to say goodbye because we were in a long-distant relationship. Now, every night I can look over my shoulder and he’s always right there next to me. I had dreamed of that feeling for so long and now he’s all mine. For the past 5 years this has been the greatest blessing of my life – to spend each and every day with the man I love most in the world and the person who brings so much joy to my life. Today we celebrate a love that has only grown deeper and stronger as the years pass by. We are also so gracious to God for blessing us with a baby girl who today is 26 weeks closer to being born. Why we have received so many blessings that are undeserved, I don’t know. But today I am beyond thankful that God has given me a husband whom I greatly respect, admire, adore, and love with all of my heart. And I am so excited that now we will begin a new chapter of our lives together as parents! Adrian, thank you for being a selfless, caring, and sweet husband and a godly example. I love you with all of my heart and I hope God gives us many more happy years together!